Even More Trees

I picked up the last of the trees for my wood for this year. 20 Field Maples and 58 bare rooted Ash whips. All I need to do now is get on with the planting. With luck that should be Friday as the weather looks like it will be kind to me then.

I went out this morning to see if there had been any damage from the winds yesterday. Thankfully nothing really. The new greenhouse had been blown over even though there was no plastic on it and there was a small rip in the tarpaulin on the hay which I’ll mend with duct tape on a warm dry day.

Cleaning out the alpacas was fun. We had 11 mm of rain over the previous day followed by another 4 mm just before I went to feed and clean them. The result was akin to an ice rink, except I think there is more friction on ice than in the field. The top centimetre or so of the field was just liquid mud, yuck. Still the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue by then but I did move round very carefully.

The smaller of my two lemon trees has burst into bloom this week, scenting the study for me. Each day I’m there with the paintbrush pollinating all the flowers so hopefully this tree will produce fruit this year. The feed supplement I’ve given it really has made a difference; while it was significantly cheaper than the other lemon tree, it has required a lot more TLC and not yet produced any fruit.

And a final picture for the benefit of my children. I’ve been a fan of the virulent green Pisang Ambon liqueur for many years and while I was shopping I discovered it had a mate. This one is a beautiful purple and it tastes OK too.